The White Monkey and Black Snow
by FinalFlashX
Summary: Renji and Rukia. Two friends from the Rukon that are nearly inseperable. Until one fateful night in the woods when they are ripped apart and sent spiraling down oppossing walks of life and our thrust onto opposite sides in the brewing war between Aizen and the Soul Society. Journey with them in their struggle for survival and in their attempt to reunite with their only true friend.
1. Prologue: One Night in the Woods

**Prologue: One Night in the Woods**

"Hey Renji, wait up!" The sound of a young girl's voice shattered the silence that had enveloped the forest, causing a young boy with long, spiky hair to stop in his tracks and turn his head towards the direction of the voice. His bright, crimson hair seemed to stand out like a beacon in the night and his brown eyes twinkled somewhat as a small, raven-haired girl burst through some of the foliage that surrounded him.

"I can't believe you would just leave me like that after I tripped on that root you jerk," scolded the girl before playfully punching the red-haired boy's arm. Recoiling in mock pain, Renji stuck out his tongue before saying.

"Well maybe if you weren't so clumsy you could keep up, Rukia," he mocked before dodging a kick from his petite companion. The girl let out a fierce battle cry before leaping onto the boy, causing them both to fall to the ground. A tangle of purple and brown clothing rolled across the grassy floor of the woods as the two youngsters wrestled for several seconds before Rukia finally pinned her friend to the ground underneath her.

"So much for all that big talk huh, Renji," Rukia belittled as she grabbed the collar of the boy's brown tunic and shook her friend roughly. "Looks like you were beaten by a girl once again!"

"Whatever, I let you win so you wouldn't feel so bad about being such a klutz," retorted Renji as he stared up into his friend's piercing, blue eyes. They were luminous orbs in the night that never dimmed and they had captivated Renji since the day that he had ran into this girl a few years ago. In the slums of the Rukon District, it was extremely rare to find something so bright and exuberant and the crimson haired boy hadn't been able to keep his own eyes off of them since. Despite her eyes' sparkling appearance, Renji had always been able to see past that and see the underlying sadness that lay within Rukia. Since the day they had first met, Renji had sworn to himself that one day he would make that sadness in her disappear so that the beauty would become untarnished and pure.

"What are you gawking at like a fool?" asked Rukia jokingly before lightly kicking the boy in the ribs as she stood up and offered Renji her hand.

"Nothing," he muttered as his hand grasped hold of Ruika's allowing him to lift himself to his feet. "Now enough joking around, we're almost there now!"

Renji heard his friend sigh behind him as they once again began to journey through the forest. "Why are we out here, Renji? You still haven't told me what we're looking for."

"Fine, I guess since we're almost there I can go ahead and tell you," said Renji as he climbed over an overgrown root of a tree. "Earlier today, while I was scavenging around here, I found a real-life Zanpakutō!"

"You're kidding!" shouted Rukia, stunned by her friend's revelation. "There's no way you actually found one! If you had, I know you would have snagged it up and kept it for yourself!"

"There's no way I would do that!" exclaimed Renji. "You know how much trouble I would get in if the Soul Reaper who owned that Zanpakutō ever found out I had taken it! No way am I risking feeling the wrath of a Shinigami! Besides, one day I'll have my own Zanpakutō so why would I need to have someone else's?"

"Ha-ha, you still think that you've got what it takes to be a Soul Reaper," jeered Rukia before running ahead of Renji and walking backwards while the crimson-haired boy continued to walk forward, refusing to look his friend in the face. "Well, if you're going to be a Soul Reaper than I'm definitely going to be one! I'm already better than you at forming my spiritual pressure than you."

"There's more to being a Soul Reaper than that, Rukia," mumbled Renji, embarrassed by how Rukia had shown him up in front of the others a few weeks ago when they had been practicing manipulating their spiritual energy. Everyone had been so impressed when he had managed to form a small orb of it, but then Rukia immediately made an orb of her own nearly twice the size of his. Sometimes he hated the fact that Rukia was also capable of using her spiritual pressure, but he was also glad. It meant that they would become Soul Reapers together and never have to be apart from one another. They would be able to stay a family forever.

"I'm just kidding around, Renji," said Rukia when she noticed the solemn expression on the boy's face. "I know that you'll be able to get into the Academy and we'll both be able to leave Hanging Dog once and for all! I mean, just look how much nicer it is here in Fugai than it is there in Hanging Dog. Just imagine how nice the Seireitei must be!"

"I know, that's why I come all the way out here to look for things to sell. It is a lot more peaceful out here than in Hanging Dog, that's for sure," responded Renji before turning through a bend in the trees. "Alright, the clearing will be right up ahead. That's where I found the Zanpakutō earlier."

"Great, now we can see if…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGG GGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The pair of children were frozen in place as a howl of agony suddenly swept over them like a tidal wave. The entire forest seemed to shake from the ferociousness of this cry of torment and the two suddenly felt their skin crawling as an eerie silence seemed to smother them after the howl ended. Renji felt a bead of sweat streak across his face as he felt himself gulp before continuing forward to see what could have possible made such a terrible scream.

As his head poked out from the trees, Renji quickly surveyed the clearing before him. The once serene grassland, that he had explored only a few hours ago, was now strewn with red pools of blood and disfigured bodies. What shocked the boy most though was that these were no ordinary figures that lay limp on the ground. No, these were the bodies of the invincible Soul Reapers; some of them even wore the white haori that indicated that the individual was a Captain of the 13 Court Guard Squads.

Upon seeing the multiple white haori's that had now been reduced to mere rags, Renji let out a small gasp of fear and shock. The Soul Reaper Captains were the most powerful members of the Soul Society and if something had been able to defeat so many of them, the redheaded boy couldn't even imagine the power that sort of monster must possess. While Renji admitted that he was clueless about many things, he had no delusions about what would happen if he were ever to cross paths with something with that kind of power. He would be crushed like an ant without a second thought by the monster, as would Rukia, and there was no way Renji would let that happen.

"Ru…Rukia," he stammered as the boy tried to compose himself. "We need to leave, now."

"What's the matter?" asked Rukia as she came up behind her friend. Upon seeing the bloody landscape before her though, the black-haired girl let out a squeal of terror before clenching her hand around Renji's arm. The boy grimaced as he felt his friend's nails dig deep into his skin but he refused to acknowledge the pain or to tell Rukia to stop. If clawing his skin would make her feel more safe and secure, than she could tear all of it as far he cared.

Before Renji could grab hold of his companion and get away from the carnage, his eyes widened in shock as he suddenly heard a loud snapping sound further ahead. Slowly lifting his eyes away from the large grouping of bodies that he had seen so far, Renji was able to see that about a hundred yards away from the massacre was another group of Soul Reapers.

Unlike the group that the children were only a few feet away from, these Soul Reapers were all conscious and the majority of them all looked to be perfectly fine. There were four in total: three that wore the normal, standard black uniform of the Shinigami that stood above a kneeling, longhaired blonde that wore a Captain's Haori. The three normal Soul Reapers were an odd-looking trio in Renji's opinion as his eyes absorbed the god-sent sight of these alive protectors of the Soul Society.

One of the three was a small boy, seemingly not much older than himself or Rukia, with almost pure white hair. What struck Renji the most about this Soul Reaper though was the fact that even though he possessed a small stature, he still terrified the spiky-haired boy because of his creepy demeanor. The white-haired boy's eyes appeared to be squeezed shut and he wore a wide smile that sent chills down Renji's spine.

The Soul Reaper opposite of the creepy, child-like warrior seemed to be the exact opposite of his ally in nearly every way imaginable. Dark-skinned with purple dreads that were pulled upright and wearing a white, long-sleeved jacket over his uniform, this Shinigami was the epitome of the stoic, calm, warrior that many of the Soul Reapers strived for. This aspect was best represented by the fact that his eyes were shut, giving off the façade that he was meditating. Even based off of his appearance though, Renji couldn't help but feel that something was…off about this man. Though his outward gave off the illusion of being honorable and trustworthy, the redheaded adolescent couldn't help but feel that this one wasn't what he appeared to be; the crimson liquid dripping from his unsheathed sword being the major cause of this uneasiness.

In between the two opposites though was a tall man with disheveled brown hair with soft, brown eyes, which were shielded by thick-framed eyeglasses. Everything about this Soul Reaper screamed trustworthy to him, except for one, single visible trait: the eerie, confident, smirk that he wore across his face. Compared to the rest of his appearance, this cocky grin stood out like a sore thumb on an otherwise unblemished hand and it set off alarm bells in Renji's head that were developed from years of dealing with dishonest adults. Ever since he had come to the Soul Society, the boy had to watch out for people that seemed untrustworthy or dishonest and he had grown good at picking the dishonest ones out. That smile, belonged to a dishonest man.

"Oh thank God!" exclaimed Rukia, suddenly snapping Renji out of the trance of seeing the trio of Soul Reapers had put him into. "They should be able to help us! Come on, Renji!"

Before he knew what was happening, Renji felt his friend's hand slip away from his arm as the raven-haired girl began to run towards the group of Shinigami. Feeling as if his breathe had suddenly been stolen away from him by the absence of her touch; the spiky haired youth felt an ominous feeling of dread wash over him as his best friend innocently ran towards the Soul Reapers.

"Rukia, wait!" yelled Renji, but his words fell on death ears as the girl continued to run forward. Unwilling to leave Rukia's side, the boy quickly began running after her, trying to ignore the knot that was tightening in his stomach.

"STOP!"

Digging his heels into the ground, Renji was shocked to see that the Soul Reaper Captain had suddenly lifted his arm out and held his palm out to the duo from Hanging Dog. It seemed the blonde's command had gotten through to Rukia as well, since she came to a halt as well though she was only a few feet away from the man.

"Don't come any closer," ordered the longhaired man, before slowly turning to face the two children, causing them both to gape in horror at his face. Covering half of the Captain's face was a white, liquid-like, substance that seemed to be devouring his face as it jerked violently around his face. Renji could see that whatever this thing was, it was clearly agonizing for the man based off the grimace of intense pain that was display across his face.

"Now run!" he screamed before succumbing from the pain and slightly doubling over. "Get out of here, NOW!"

"I'm afraid it's too late for that Captain Hirako," said a smooth, calm voice. Looking up from the terrible sight of the blonde man's marred face, Renji was shocked to see that it was the Soul Reaper with the glasses that was now speaking so casually. "You see, simply by being near you, they have already been infected and since they are not under my protection, it should not take very long for them to be consumed by it. I would only give them a minute or two before they are eradicated entirely by the virus."

"Aizen you bastard!" shouted the Captain named Hirako. "They're just kids!"

"Why should that matter at all?" questioned the man with the glasses named Aizen. "It has nothing to do with their age, Captain Hirako. They simply do not possess high enough spiritual pressure to survive the process of Hollowification. It is as simple as that; it is not personal at all, just a simple fact. However, I guess you should go ahead and add these two to the list of people that are going to die because you weren't able to stop me, Captain Hirako."

Renji's heart skipped a beat as the emotionless man finished speaking. They were going to die. No matter how much he hated to admit it, Renji was scared to die. There was so much left for him to do in life. He and Rukia hadn't managed to escape from the living hell that was Hanging Dog yet and Renji couldn't stand for that. It was unfair that someone like Rukia was going to be forced to die without ever knowing the joy of having a better life then that of a slum kid. He himself probably didn't deserve any better, but Rukia was a different story. She deserved everything and more, and Renji wasn't going to let this prick take that away from her.

"You aren't going to kill us that easily!" Renji shouted as he suddenly charged at the calm, confidant Soul Reaper. He was stopped dead in his tracks though as two swords suddenly blinked into his vision directly in front of his face. Stunned, the redheaded boy turned his gaze upward to see that the dark-skinned Soul Reaper had attempted to cut him in half and Renji hadn't even noticed the man move until now when he had already come to a stop. The only thing that had prevented his premature death was that the blonde Captain had intercepted the blow with his own Zanpakutō before it could slice the boy into pieces.

"Renji!" screamed Rukia, causing the boy to turn his head towards her. She looked deathly pale now and beads of sweat were streaming down her face. Renji could feel the color draining out of his face as he realized that, already, his best friend appeared to be feeling the effects of whatever this "virus" was that they had been inflicted with.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, kid?" shouted Hirako as he pushed back the attacker's sword before glancing at the boy that stood behind him. "I told you to get out of here didn't I!?"

"Ri…right," stammered the now terrified Renji. All of the bravado he had mustered before had melted away when he saw that Zanpakutō a mere inch away from his face. He couldn't stop these Soul Reapers, so all he could hope for was that this Captain could somehow stall enough time for them to escape.

Turning away from the battling Shinigami as Hirako and the dark-skinned one began to duel, Renji began to head back towards Rukia, but as he attempted to walk towards his friend, a sharp pain in his abdomen caused him to fall to his knees. The boy's mouth opened involuntarily as he mouthed an unvoiced scream of agony as he doubled over from the pain.

"Renji!" Upon hearing Rukia scream his name, the crimson haired child forced himself to look up so that he could see his friend. He wanted to tell her to run away, to save herself, but Renji found that he couldn't muster the strength to even mutter a sound. Just as she was about to reach him though, the boy watched in horror as his best friend collapsed to the ground unconscious only a couple of feet away.

Renji grunted as he poured all of his strength into lifting his arm that had been hanging limply at his side. Reaching out, the boy attempted to grasp onto his friend's hand but his effort was in vain, as he found that she was still out of his reach. His arm fell to the ground with a soft thump as he suffered from another convulsion of pain. The boy's eyes shut tightly as his lungs finally let loose a howl of agony as a physical representation of his feelings of frustration and helplessness. There wasn't anything he could do to save Rukia and the pain he felt from this failure was far worse than anything that the virus that was consuming him could ever hope to inflict upon him could.

To add onto the terror that he felt, Renji watched with dismay as the same white substance that had covered the blonde haired Captain's face suddenly began to emerge on Rukia's face as well. It was a bizarre thing to watch, as this opaque liquid swarmed across his friend's face and obscured it from the spiky haired adolescent's sight.

"Rukia," he managed to mumble before the boy felt a sudden upheaval in stomach. With a violent jerk of his entire body, Renji felt as if his stomach and face were exploding as his body expelled a large amount of the pale liquid that was now gnawing on Rukia. Another scream of pain erupted from the boy, feeling as if his face was being devouring by thousands of tiny gnats that were clawing and biting through his skin.

"This is an unexpected, albeit interesting, development." Renji felt a scowl suddenly form across his half-covered face as he glanced upward to see the one called Aizen and his white-haired subordinate hovering over him and Rukia. "With all the other test subjects that possessed weak spiritual energy such as these two, they had all already disintegrated from the Hollowification process. Yet somehow, these two have managed to survive the first stage and their bodies have even managed to manifest Reishi to complete the process. Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating."

A high-pitched growl, unlike anything Renji had ever heard before, escaped from the boy's lips as his anger grew from the fact that this man simply viewed him and Rukia as mere lab rats.

"This one seems to even now possess vocalization similar to a Hollow," commented Aizen in his same, monotonous voice. "This experiment was already a great success before but now with the added bonus of these two, this sort of breakthrough is beyond even my greatest expectations."

"It is an interesting twist," conceded the white-haired youth. "I wonder what exactly caused these two to be different from those other, unfortunate, fellows."

"What indeed, Gin," commented Aizen. "This will require further examination so we can fully understand the extent of what is occurring with these two, unique specimens. Gin, grab the unconscious one. We will take her with us for further study."

"What about the boy, Lieutenant Aizen?" asked the one called Gin. "What do you want to do with him?"

Renji felt the cold, callous eyes of Aizen piercing into his own as he the glasses-wearing Soul Reaper decided what the boy's fate would be. While the redheaded child poured every ounce of hatred and malice he could muster into his stare, the boy could not see one hint of emotion pass through the man's eyes before turning his back on him as he said.

"Leave him; we shall dispose him along with the rest of them. Taking him would be more trouble than he's worth and we only require the girl."

"As you wish, Lieutenant Aizen," said Gin with a slight bow of his head before bending down to scoop the unconscious form of Rukia into his arms.

"N..no," murmured Renji as he shakily forced his arm to lift off of the ground in an attempt to grab onto his friend, to somehow to prevent her from being ripped away from him. It wasn't fair. In his bleak, heart-wrenching, miserable life, Rukia had been the one bright spot amongst all of it that gave him hope. Hope for a better life, a better life where he and her escaped from their meager lives as mere street kids to go on to become respected members of the Soul Society in the Seireitei as Shinigami. It was supposed to be a fairy tale ending for them, and now members of the very organization they had aspired to become a part of were shattering that storybook ending.

The spiky haired kid's hand missed Rukia's by a mere fingertip as her body was lifted off the ground and then carried away by the pale-haired Soul Reaper. After moving back to his superior's side, Gin and Aizen both turned to leave the crimson haired boy to die on the ground, alone. However, Renji wasn't going to allow them to simply dismiss him. Not even the mighty Soul Reapers were going to be able to ignore him, he was going to make sure of that.

Gnashing his teeth together, Renji put all of his remaining strength into one last lunge. His valiant effort was rewarded as he felt his hand latch around the one called Aizen's ankle and the youth squeezed tightly as he refused to allow the Shinigami take another step. A small bit of satisfaction filled Renji as he saw visible displeasure on the man's face as he slowly turned his head to glance down at him.

"I…won't…let you…TAKE HER!" growled Renji as he attempted to fight off his growing fatigue as an encroaching blackness began to darken his vision. Now, it was taking all of his willpower to fight off unconsciousness, but he was willing to endure the suffering in order to make one last attempt to save Rukia.

A scowl formed across the boy's face as he saw a small smile emerge across the glasses wearing Soul Reaper's face.

"How amusing," he commented as he effortlessly freed his leg from Renji's grip. "You've actually deluded yourself into thinking that you could stop me. While I commend you for your effort, just know that there was nothing you could do to prevent me from taking her. You simply weren't strong enough."

As the man and his comrade turned away from him, Renji managed to emit another howl of rage and frustration and before slipping fully into unconsciousness, the redheaded boy managed to muster all of his remaining energy into one final scream of agony.

"RUKIA!"

**Thanks for reading the first chapter of **_**The White Monkey and Black Snow**_**! This is my first attempt at writing a Bleach story, I've been solely focused on Dragon Ball Z for my time here on the site, and it's really nice to finally branch out into another fandom and explore the characters and possibilities for that series! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and I hope to see what you thought of this Prologue or any questions you have about the story in a review and I hope you'll continue to read in the future! Until next time guys! **__


	2. Chapter 1: Brand New Worlds

**Chapter 1: Brand New Worlds**

A lone man with shaggy, brown hair casually walked down one of the many roads in the Seireitei with his arms loosely wrapped around a clipboard as he walked past a group of gossiping, lower tier Soul Reapers. The men ceased their chatter as the man passed them by, in a vain attempt to prevent the glasses wearing man from overhearing their conversation. Little did they know, that no amount of information-no matter how insignificant-escaped from _his_ knowledge.

Already the rumors were circulating, and after only a few short weeks since the improbable escape orchestrated by that meddlesome Kisuke Urahara. With the sudden power vacuum within the 13 Court Guard Squads caused by the sudden defection of six Squad Captains it seemed that the Squad 5 Lieutenant, Sōsuke Aizen, was on the fast track to being promoted to Captain.

The shaggy haired Lieutenant gave the gathering of people a polite nod before continuing on his way. As always, everything was going according to his plan. Not only had he been able to observe the effects of his Hōgyoku on souls with high-level Reiatsu, along with making an incredible new discovery, he had also been able to accomplish his secondary goal of accelerating his ascendance to Captaincy. Once he had attained that prestigious rank, it would be much simpler for him to conduct more research and set the rest of his plan into motion.

So far, there had only been one hitch in his plan: the interference of Squad 2 Captain, Yoruichi Shihōin. Kisuke Urahara along with Tessai Tsukabishi had arrived at the scene of the Hollowification process exactly as planned and of course failed to prevent Aizen and his associates from escaping along with their captive. This of course set up Kisuke Urahara perfectly for the crime of Hollowifying his fellow Shinigami brethren and causing him to be sentenced into exile in the World of the Living while also duping Central 46 into sentencing the infected Soul Reapers to death. Everything had been set up perfectly, until her sudden interference which resulted in the rescue of the test subjects and her childhood friends. In hindsight, he should have expected such a move and while it did slightly delay his acquisition of Kisuke Urahara's Hōgyoku, it was only a minor setback in the end. With time, the second Hōgyoku would be his. It was an inevitable truth.

At the moment however, there were much more…interesting occurrences going on that required the man's attention. Ever since the night of the experiment, Aizen had been monitoring his latest test subject extremely closely. Using his Hōgyoku, he had been able to somewhat stabilize the subject's Hollowfication as to ensure that the process was able to complete itself, though Aizen was intrigued by one curious aspect of her Reiatsu. Based off of the research that he had complied from previous experiments, her spiritual pressure was much more similar to a Hollow's than a normal Shinigami-Hollow hybrids should have been. While it didn't seem to affect the fact that the experiment would survive the Hollowfication process, it would be interesting to see the girl's progression from this stage forward.

There was one problem with this unusual amount of Hollow spiritual pressure residing inside of the subject though, it would eventually become impossible to keep her in the Soul Society undetected. Usually, a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid would be able to pass off as a mere Soul Reaper based on the fact that the Hollow Reiatsu would be hidden unless called upon by the hybrid. However, especially at this girl's young age and inexperience, no such feat would be possible to accomplish for a very long time and even Aizen could not erect a barrier in the middle of the Soul Society that would keep her hidden long enough. Not to even consider the fact that soon the absence of the 3rd Seat of Squad 5, Gin Ichimaru, would no doubt be noticed sooner or later and he could not be watching over the subject while also playing the part of a good Soul Reaper. Besides, Gin was required to do much more important tasks than babysitting if his plan was to succeed.

No, it was clear to Aizen that the test subject could not remain in the Soul Society while he waited for her to develop to the appropriate level of spiritual energy necessary to be able to conceal the Hollow Reiatsu that she possessed. However, the problem was that the subject needed to grow her power so that eventually she could actually become a valuable resource to him. That was the whole reason that he had taken the girl, because the potential of a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid that was created from a host that had not even manifested her Soul Reaper powers yet promised to hold extraordinary potential. Possessing someone with that sort of potential power would be extremely valuable, nearly irreplaceable, in his scheme to gain access to the Ōken and to overthrow the parasite that resided on the throne. For his project to become fruitful though, the subject would need time to mature and grow her power though and for that to occur she would need some way of gaining experience in the use of her newly acquired abilities. This was certainly a predicament that needed a solution, but it was really nothing more than a small inconvenience at the moment. It would not take Sōsuke Aizen long to think of the answer. It never did.

The eyeglasses wearing Soul Reaper stopped dead in his tracks as he finally reached his destination. To everyone else, it simply appeared as if the man had stopped for no reason in the middle of a large open grass field in an unpopulated area of the Seireitei. However, that was exactly what Aizen wanted everyone to think he was doing.

The shaggy haired man's hand slowly drifted down to the hilt of the sword until the palm of his hand gingerly brushed across it. Grasping hold of the handle, Aizen carefully drew his Zanpakutō before bringing the tip of the hilt to eye level and holding the blade out in front of him like he was about to drop the katana.

"Shatter," spoke Aizen in his emotionless voice as his eyes never wavered from the hilt of his sword. "Kyoka Suigetsu."

Instantaneously, the peaceful meadow that had been sprawled before the Soul Reaper a moment before was transformed into a smouldering wasteland that had clearly been ravaged by the side effects of battle. The once lush terrain had been torn to bits from some previous clash of powerful entities and in the middle of all this destruction sat a lone, white haired, boy who was resting in front of five large stone pillars that seemed to be planted into the ground.

"Ah, Lieutenant Aizen, I see that you've come to pay me a visit," said the boy as he flashed a devilish smile at his commander. "Or should I go ahead and start calling you _Captain _Aizen now?"

"It's nice to see you to Gin," stated Aizen, his eyes instantly drifting over to five pillars that were erected behind his subordinate. "I see that you were forced to use Gochūtekkan to restrain the subject this time."

"Ah yes," said Gin, standing up before nodding his head towards the center of five pillars where an unconscious, black-haired girl lay face down in the dirt. "She was quite a feisty one this time when she Hollowfied, did quite a number on a group of petunias over there, but in the end I was able to restrain her."

"Her power is quite extraordinary when you consider the fact that her initial spiritual energy was minute when she underwent Hollowfication," commented Aizen as he examined his experiment carefully. "One can only imagine the potential that she now possesses."

"Yes, but where is she going to be able to draw out all of this potential at?" questioned Gin. "I'm sure that you've thought about this though."

"Yes," replied the shaggy haired man simply.

"It is quite a brainteaser isn't it," said Gin as he again sat down on the grass beside the restrained subject. "Obviously she can't stay here in the Soul Society, and the World of the Living would be just as bad, if not worse. Doesn't leave many options for us does it, Lieutenant Aizen?"

Upon hearing his subordinate's words, a small smile appeared across Aizen's face as he kneeled down so that he was closer to his latest experiment.

"It leaves only one, Gin," Aizen stated as he brought his hand up to lightly brush against the subject's face. "Though, it just happens to be the perfect place to conduct our experiment as well."

0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Rukia!" shouted Renji as his eyes snapped open signaling his emergence from the dreamless slumber he had been trapped inside of. Bolting upright from his supine position on the floor, the boy was shocked to see that for some reason he was not laying on the grassy plain he had passed out on, but was inside of a large, dark cavern. The walls and floor of the cave were an earthy brown color and for some reason there seemed to be a sort of natural sunlight illuminating the entire room even though to Renji at least it seemed as if he were deep underground.

"It seems that the kid's finally waken up Kisuke," declared a low, smooth voice that almost came across as a purr to Renji. Looking to his left, the crimson haired youth was stunned to see a beautiful, dark-skinned woman with short, purple hair sitting casually atop a large boulder. Renji shivered slightly as he noticed that her deep, golden eyes were locked on to him and her tight, black outfit rustled slightly as she slid off of the boulder.

"Looks like your right Yoruichi, and it seems that he's made a full recovery. That's good news." Whipping his head around again, Renji was surprised that yet another person was in the room observing him. This one was a man that possessed shoulder-length blonde hair with one bang that lay firmly in the middle of the man's face. Leaning down so that he could look the petrified boy in the face, the blonde-haired man smiled warmly before extending his hand out to Renji.

"Hey there little guy!" the man said happily with a big, goofy smile on his face as his eyes were closed. "My name's Kisuke Urahara! Mind telling me yours?"

Renji stared dumbfounded at this dorky man that now seemed to think that simply because they were in the same room they were friends. Hesitantly, the boy lifted his own hand and grasped hold of this Kisuke fellow's hand and shook it firmly.

"Renji," the adolescent slowly said, unsure if giving out his name to this man was a wise decision. "My name is Renji Abarai."

"Well it's nice to meet you Renji Abarai," said the blonde man as he stood up, his black cloak rustling a little bit as he stood. "Now I'm sure that you've got a lot of questions to ask of me: for example how you got here am I right?"

The crimson haired boy nodded and he watched as Kisuke turned his back on him before calmly stating. "Well, after you passed out from the Hollowfication process, my accomplice, Tessai, and I arrived just in time to prevent Sōsuke Aizen from killing you and the others. Long story short, Aizen and his subordinates managed to escape but we were able to take you and the others that had been infected back to my lab in the Seireitei."

"Wait, you live in the Seireitei?" asked Renji, stunned that someone that lived in the grandest place in the Soul Society would bother saving him. "Are you a Soul Reaper like the others?"

"Well, I _was _the Captain of Squad 12 and the Head of the Department of Research and Development," answered the blonde man, the exuberant personality he had displayed earlier seemingly having vanished into thin air. "Now however, I'm nothing more than a fugitive like yourself and the others."

Renji was lost for words for a second as he realized that in the span of a few hours, he had met at least two Captains of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads, some of the most powerful and important people in all of the Soul Society. What had he gotten himself into that had attracted the attention of such influential people such as the Captains?

"Wait a second, you said you _were _a Captain," commented Renji, as he to stood to his feet. "What happened? Why aren't you a Captain anymore?"

"Because Aizen framed me for performing Hollowfication on you and the others," quickly answered Urahara, his head still turned away from the boy. "Central 46, the group that controls the entire Soul Society, found me guilty and sentenced me into exile in the World of the Living along with stripping me of all my Shinigami powers. They also sentenced you and the others that had been Hollowfied to death, not realizing that you all weren't just mindless Hollows. Luckily for both you and me, Yoruichi here decided to step in and save the day."

"It was my pleasure," said the dark-skinned woman as she walked over to stand beside the blonde-haired man. "I couldn't just stand there and allow innocent people to be executed just because Aizen managed to fool all of them."

"So where are we now if you guys are on the run from the Soul Society?" questioned Renji. All of this talk of Central 46 and escapes was confusing him even more. All he knew was that he had passed out in a field in Fugai and somehow he was now in a cave.

"First off, _we're _on the run from the Soul Society kid," replied Yoruichi before putting a hand on the crimson haired boy's shoulder. "They're after you and the others to, so we're all in this together. As to where we are, we're now in the World of the Living. While you were unconscious, Kisuke managed to create us all a prototype Gigai that allowed us to travel here and also are designed to suppress our Reiatsu so that the Soul Society won't be able to detect us."

Renji was stunned by all of the information that was being force fed to him. The rapid processing of information had never really been his strong suit, seeing as how he would much rather pummel on someone than stand around and talk circles around them. He was somehow in the World of the Living now? And his soul had been placed inside of a Gigai while he was unconscious?

"Wait, how long have I been out for?" the boy asked, confused by how the ex-Soul Reaper Captain had the time to accomplish all of this.

"For about three weeks," revealed the blonde haired man, causing the boy to take a step backwards. Three weeks! There was no way he had been out for that long! It was just impossible! Surely he hadn't been that affected by whatever virus had been planted inside of his body.

"Unlike the others, it took much longer for your body to complete the process," admitted Urahara. "When I attempted to reverse the Hollowfication that Aizen had begun on the nine of you, I was unable to reverse it and in fact completed it. Fortunately though, it did have the end result of stabilizing all of you and taking you out of life threatening condition. However, with you, the process was even more complex than I imagined. For you see, not only did the process give you the powers of Hollow, but it also gave you those of a Soul Reaper as well."

"W-What?" stammered Renji, all of the words that the scientist had just said completely flying over the boy's head.

"Let me see if I can find a way to explain this," said Kisuke as he placed a hand on his chin. "Since the others were already Soul Reapers, they already had access to that portion of spiritual powers that all Souls that reside in the Soul Society possess. All that the Hollowfication did for them was break the barrier between the powers of a Soul Reaper and a Hollow. For you however, you had not yet awakened your full potential as a Shinigami yet, so for whatever reason, the Hollowfication activated your dormant Soul Reaper powers as well as breaking the barrier between Shinigami and Hollows."

"So are you saying…that I'm a Soul Reaper now?" questioned Renji, his eyes widening and he could feel butterflies in his stomach. Was it possible that his lifelong wish had somehow been fulfilled? He was going to be a Soul Reaper…It was almost hard to believe, since it seemed at least to him that he was going to die only a few moments ago. Did his fate really just turn so dramatically from certain death to granting his greatest desire?

"More or less," admitted the former Captain. "Of course, you won't be an official Shinigami. You'll just have the same abilities as one. Though, you are much more than a Soul Reaper. You're a Shinigami -Hollow hybrid. You possess much higher limits than that of a normal Soul Reaper and since you are that from the start, one can only imagine the sort of power that you may one day have at your disposal. Oh, that reminds me." As the blonde-haired man reached into his cloak, Renji's eyes widened as the man pulled out a small, red sheath from the depths of his clothing.

"This manifested itself while you were still unconscious," said Urahara as he presented the sword to the crimson-haired adolescent. "It is your Zanpakutō. Go ahead, take it and give it a try."

Renji could feel his hand trembling as he reached for the bright red handle. He couldn't believe it, the boy had always dreamed about the day that he would finally get his own Zanpakutō, but never in his wildest dreams had he guessed that he would receive one so soon. As his hand finally grasped around the sword's handle, the boy slowly pulled the blade from the crimson sheath to admire his very own Zanpakutō.

The youth's eyes seemed to sparkle as he lost himself looking at the gleaming blade that he now held in his hand. The sword was in the shape of a typical katana, though it was much smaller since it only was about a foot and a half in length. At the base of the blade, the sword and its handle were connected by a rectangular bronze tsuba with a jagged design. Moving his arm, Renji watched as his sword seemed to flow smoothly with the motion of his arm and for a moment his mind was lost while his eyes followed the blade's movements through the air.

"Why is my Zanpakutō so much smaller than all of the other ones I've seen," asked Renji as he finally tore his eyes away from his majestic blade.

"Well, the size of a Zanpakutō is a reflection of its owner's spiritual pressure," answered Urahara as he passed the boy his sheath. "Of course, higher up Soul Reapers are able to control the size of their Zanpakutō, or else they would all be carrying swords the size of skyscrapers with them. However, in your case since you haven't learned how to do that yet, it shows how much spiritual pressure you are exerting at the time. Since you just recently acquired your powers, it is of course fairly weak and that is why your Zanpakutō is smaller."

"I guess that makes sense," conceded the boy as he sheathed his sword before putting the blade across his shoulder. "Oh man, I can't wait until Rukia…"

Renji's words died in his throat as all the feelings of joy and euphoria were stolen away from him like he was punched in the chest. For a moment, he had forgotten that Rukia had been taken from him by that Aizen man. Taken because he had been too weak to protect her and keep her out of harm's way. The thought of being given Soul Reaper powers had made him happy for a while, but what was the point in being happy when you had no one to share your success with?

"Do you know what happened to her?" questioned the boy, with his chin seemingly glued to his chest. "Do you manage to save her from that man?"

Silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity to the crimson-haired child as he attempted to bore a hole into the stone floor beneath him. Finally, the voice of the blonde-haired scientist broke the uneasy silence that had been hanging over the room.

"You must mean the girl. Unfortunately, I was unable to get her back and Aizen managed to escape with her. Even with Tessai and Yoruichi's help we were unable to find her before we were forced to leave for the World of the Living. I'm sorry Renji, I really am."

The boy didn't move as the echo of the man's words rang throughout the cave and inside of Renji's mind. Why was this guy apologizing to him? It wasn't Urahara's fault that Rukia had been kidnapped by the glasses wearing Shinigami, it was Renji's. He was the one that had insisted on going out to look for that Zanpakutō. It was him that had convinced Rukia to come out with him to Fugai that night. It was even his fault that they had been caught into that trap in the first place. It was entirely his fault and no one else's. It was because he had been so stupid to put her in danger and then he had also been…

"_To weak."_

Renji suddenly felt as if time had been frozen and a feeling of great dread suddenly washed over his entire body. The boy attempted to move his legs, wanting to run away from this dark presence that he felt nearby but found that he could not move a muscle. It was also at that moment that he realized that the dark, evil presence was coming from _him_ and he could feel a sudden surge of spiritual energy about to erupt from his body, but Renji had no idea where all this power was coming from!

"_You were too weak to protect Rukia!" _hissed a slithery voice inside of Renji's head and the boy could feel himself beginning to lose consciousness as the voice suddenly seemed to consume his mind while a black veil obscured his sight. _"So why don't you just let me go ahead and take over for you. I'll never allow you to be that weak again!"_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sand. That was the only thing that Rukia could feel as she slowly felt her mind returning to her. Reaching around, the girl could feel the coarse feeling of the grainy substance against the palms of her hand's as she grasped around blindly searching for anything that felt slightly familiar. It wasn't until her hand brushed against the cold, smooth feeling of metal that the girl's brain fully began to function again.

This new sensation caused the girl's eyes to slowly flutter open as her hand grabbed a firm hold of the mysterious object that it had come into contact with. The first thing Rukia noticed when her eyes finally came into focus was that it was fairly dark outside, with the only light being the pale beams emitting from the moon that resided directly overhead. It was also at this moment that she realized that she was lying flat on her back, her body partially submerged by a mound of sand that seemed to have settled over her unconscious body.

'_How long have I been lying here'_ the raven haired girl thought as she slowly turned her head to look at what exactly she had ahold of in her right hand. Her eyes widened in shock and the girl immediately forced herself upright as she stared down into foreign object that lay in the palm of her hand.

Gingerly grasped in her hand, lay the reddish-brown hilt of a fully formed Zanpakutō. The foot and a half long blade gleamed brilliantly in the pale moonlight and Rukia found that she could not take her eyes off of the unsheathed katana as she slowly lifted the sword to eye-level.

"Where did you come from?" Rukia asked aloud, her bright blue eyes still transfixed on the blade. Had she somehow picked this up when she had been out in Fugai with Renji? They had been out there looking for a Zanpakutō that Pineapple-Head had found earlier, maybe this was it. Had they managed to find it? No matter how hard she tried, Rukia couldn't recall her and the crimson haired boy actually stumbling across the sword. The last thing she could remember was them hearing a howl of pain, but after that her memory failed her and she couldn't really call to mind anything else. She assumed though they must have come across it at some point, the evidence was right in her hand after all.

That led to a bigger question though: where was Renji at? As a matter of fact, where was she at? This bleak desert that she found herself in was completely alien to her. Never before had she even heard of a place with this type of geography in the Soul Society, much less actually having visited such a place. As for her friend, his crimson hair was nowhere to be found. It was discomforting for the girl not to have the familiar bob of bright red by her side, and it seemed as if there was a hole in her chest now because of his absence.

Rukia didn't think that Renji knew this, but he had always been that solid rock for her. The one thing that she knew could be counted on to be there for her at the end of the day. For years, it had just been her, all alone in Hanging Dog struggling to survive in that cruel world. She had suffered in silence for what seemed like an eternity and it wasn't until the day that she had stumbled across Renji and his gang that she had really ever experienced any sort of joy. It wasn't until after that day, when she had finally found her family, that she had really ever been alive. For that, Rukia was eternally grateful to her spiky haired friend, though she had never expressed that feeling in so many words. Renji wasn't exactly the most touchy feely guy, she doubted he would understand what she was talking about.

"Well I guess I better go find that idiot," Rukia said aloud as she stood to her feet, sword in hand. "There's no telling what sort of trouble he's gotten into without me around to keep him out of it."

Dragging her feet, Rukia began to slowly walk aimlessly through the sand. She didn't have a clue where exactly she was planning on going, or how she would find Renji, but the girl did now that none of her problems would be solved by just lying in the sand. This was the time for action, so the only thing she really could do was to start walking and hope that something or someone would come along that would help her out and point her in the right direction to get back to her family.

Unfortunately for her…something did find her…

"Why, don't you just smell delicious, _Soul Reaper_."

**Hey everybody! Thanks for all the support for chapter one! Big thanks has to go out to everyone that reviewed and favorite the story! It's greatly appreciated! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I can assure you that the action will pick up next chapter! See you then! **


	3. Chapter 2: Hollow Inside

**Chapter 2: Hollow Inside **

An ear-splitting howl of rage suddenly shattered the awkward silence that had been hanging over the group of former Captains and Lieutenants that were waiting just out of sight of the newly awakened child. Kisuke had kindly asked them all to give the boy a little space when he awoke so he wasn't put under any more stress by suddenly being surrounded by strangers. So, acquiescing to the former Captain of Squad 12's wishes, they had all remained out of sight, speechless as they all tried to fully comprehend what exactly was happening to them as well. Not much time had passed since they had all received the same news that the crimson haired boy was now getting themselves, so many of them actually welcomed the time they were now given to try and wrap their heads around the situation.

Kensei Muguruma was not one of those individuals. When this blood-curtailing scream pierced through the surreal veil that seemed to be draped over the group, the short, white haired man gave a small sigh of relief. He abhorred these times of brooding and sulking, it was a complete waste of time: feeling sorry for yourself. This was all time they could have used to attempt to get back at that bastard Aizen for placing these…monsters inside of all them. Instead, they had simply sat around pouting instead of actually coming up with a plan of action. So when this roar rang through his ears, Kensei was the first one to leap to his feet and dash towards Urahara and Yoruichi; both of whom seemed to be rooted to the ground in front of a large cyclone.

"What the hell is going on!?" demanded the tall, muscular man as he screeched to a halt beside the dark-skinned women as the rest of their band scurried to catch up to him. "Where is this immense spiritual pressure coming from?"

"It's the boy!" revealed the blonde haired scientist as he clutched the top of his head to prevent his hair from whipping wildly around his face from the hurricane force winds. "I believe that he's somehow Hollowifying because of the mention of his friend."

"The kid," mumbled the stunned warrior as a wave of spiritual energy exploded outward, causing his loosely cut bangs to be thrown back over the top of his face and out of sight. The power that this small boy was exerting at the moment was absolutely astounding for a child, especially considering the fact that the child had no previous combat training. Waves upon waves of this spiritual pressure continued to pour forth, like a never-ending torrent of water, with the force behind it eventually becoming so great that even Kensei was pushed back several inches by the boy's incredible display of Reiatsu.

After a few more seconds of gale force winds, the breeze suddenly came to an eerie stop and an unnatural stillness suddenly hung over the terrain as the dust kicked up by the typhoon finally settled back down to the ground. This unnerving lull rattled Kensei, and an ominous sense of forbidding seemed to consume his being as the veil of soot surrounding the crimson-haired boy grew thinner with each passing second. With a scowl adorning his face, the former Captain of Squad 9 unsheathed his Zanpakutō with a fierce glare set on the now nearly dissipated dust cloud.

"What are you doing, Kensei?" asked a petite woman with bright green hair as she came to a halt beside the katana-wielding warrior. "You do know it's just that little boy in there, so why are you drawing you sword?"

"Be quite, Mashiro!" hissed the white haired man. "Can't you sense it? That's…Hollow Reiatsu over there."

As if on cue, the last remainder of the brown fog faded into obscurity to reveal the inert form of the boy. His head was bowed, hiding the kid's face from Kensei's sight while also showcasing his bright red hair for all to see. However, even this colorful display wasn't the object that attracted every person's gaze. No, that honor belonged to the mammoth sized hunk of steel that casually rested across the adolescent's shoulders, which length was well over twice the height of its wielder.

"There's…no way," muttered the stunned Kensei, hardly able to believe what his eyes were seeing. "I know he just released a tremendous amount of spiritual pressure, but I've never seen a Zanpakutō that massive before! For one so young to wield such power…it's incredible…"

"Yes, the power gained from Hollowfication is truly an awe-inspiring sight to behold," commented the scientist, Kisuke Urahara. "Any minute now, you'll be able to see the source of this terrible power that you all now possess."

Heeding the former head of the Department of Research and Development's prediction, Kensei shifted his sight back to the stagnant figure of the crimson haired child. As if the boy had finally become aware of his audience, he began to slowly lift his head to stare back at the crowd that now stood before him. As his face finally came into view though, a collective gasp was heard throughout the entire room. Everyone except for Kensei, Urahara, and Yoruichi had their breath taken away by the horrifying sight before them, and even the usually unfazed Squad 9 Captain's eyes widened in surprise.

A mask now adorned the child's face, though this was no ordinary mask by any stretch of the imagination. This mask was made of a pure white, bone-like substance that covered its wearer's face in an oval shape and extended all the way up to the boy's hairline, concealing the entirety of his forehead. In the middle of this mask though, was a long, bony fin that extended from the top of the mask all the way down the boy's forehead and to where it was level with the narrow, eye-slits that revealed the dark eyes of this…monster. To put the finishing touches on this appearance of abject terror, where the adolescent's mouth should have been where simply two, large fangs- similar into those found on snakes-barred viciously at the group of former Soul Reapers. There was no doubt in any of their minds, this was a Hollow mask, and this boy had somehow been transformed into one of those terrible beasts.

"Oh no! That poor boy!" exclaimed Mashiro as she grabbed on to her former Captain's arm, much to Kensei's annoyance. "He's been turned into a Hollow!"

"You are partially correct," responded Kisuke. "The Hollow part of him has definitely been awakened, but Renji isn't a full Hollow. Like the rest of you, he is a Shinigami –Hollow hybrid, and at that present moment, he has tapped fully into his Hollow side and awakened its powers."

"So wait, you're saying that all of us become like what that poor kid is now!?" asked the green haired woman, now placing herself even further behind her white-haired companion.

"Yeah, we all can," answered a solemn voice from behind, Kensei immediately recognizing the voice as Shinji's, the former Captain of Squad 5. The long-haired blonde man's stare was fixated on the ground as he continued to speak. "I witnessed all of you turn into something similar to what that boy is now. Before that, the rest of us had to battle against you two: Kensei and Mashiro. You were both possessed by some sort of demon, unable to recognize us at all and you attacked us like wild animals, completely devoid of all cognitive thought. The power you both wielded was incredible, but you were little more than mindless beast while you adorned your masks."

"We…we were like that?" stammered Mashiro, her eyes widening in surprise and fear. All she received for an answer was a curt nod from Shinji before tears began to well up in her eyes.

Kensei looked on at his former Lieutenant with some semblance of pity. He knew how hard it was for her to realize that she had unknowingly attacked and harmed several of friends. Even the hot-tempered Captain was somewhat conflicted about what had occurred that fateful night, and he could empathize with Mashiro's fear. He was able to somewhat recall the memories of that night, and it was as if some other being-a being that lived inside of him-had taken control of his body. Kensei had been completely powerless to put a stop to this other side's rampage, causing the man to feel the one emotion he despised the most: helpless. What still scared him to death about the whole incident was the fact that he could still feel that monster's presence, residing dormant inside of him, just waiting for the opportunity to seize control again. What that fiend didn't realize though was that Kensei had already vowed to _never _allow that to happen again, and Kensei Muguruma never broke an oath.

The white haired Soul Reaper was pulled out of his self-reflection by the sound of a low snarling sound emitting from the Hollow possessed boy. Casting a glance towards the monster, Kensei's eyes met with the cold, emotionless eyes of the beast. Previously unnoticed before, the Shinigami realized that in the middle of the pure black pupils, there resided two, crimson colored irises. Those eyes were like drops of blood spilled in a sea of ink, and they were completely devoid of any semblance of remorse or pity. In fact, Kensei could only detect one sort of emotion emitting from this unwavering eyes: insanity.

"Dry your tears, Mashiro," ordered Kensei, his gaze never wavering from those horrible, inhuman eyes. "You'll have plenty of time to pout and feel sorry for yourself later. Right now, we need to deal with this."

"You are such a jerk, Kensei!" decried the emerald haired woman as she shoved her commanding officer. "Can't you see that I'm upset? No, of course not! You just have to take every opportunity you can to be a big meanie…"

Mashiro's eyes widened in horror as the form of the colossal sized sword that the demon possessed boy was wielding suddenly materialized mere inches away from her face. The only thing in between her and a spilt skull was the thin blade of Kensei's Zanpakutō, which was unwaveringly holding back the massive chunk of steel that had been aimed for the woman's face.

"Ah, now why did you go and stop me?" asked a raspy, slithery voice that seemed to be coming from the crimson-haired child, even though the tone didn't match the boy's small appearance one bit. This was the voice of a devil. "I thought you would be pleased of me ridding you of her annoying babbling for good."

The white-haired warrior's eyes narrowed as he effortlessly pushed back the Hollowfied boy's blade, causing the masked adolescent to skid back a few feet. A hiss of annoyance could be heard from the monster as Kensei readied his sword, pointing the tip of his blade directly at the devilish grin that had spread across the fanged mask that the child now wore.

"Look here you little punk," Kensei said, a scowl forming on his face as he addressed the Hollow. "It seems like you're severely lacking in the manners department, especially in regards to respecting your elders. So I'm going to beat some proper etiquette into you, fair enough?"

"Kensei, hold on," interrupted the blonde haired scientist, Kisuke. "We don't know exactly how well these new Gigai will handle during the stress of combat, or if their Reiatsu concealing properties well remain intact. They are prototypes after all. Not to mention, that despite him being possessed by his Inner Hollow at the moment, Renji is still a child with virtually no combat experience at all. If you were to engage him in a fight, you could easily kill…"

"Sorry Kisuke," said the former Captain of Squad 9, interrupting his peer's speech. "It's against my nature to hold back against an opponent in a fight, even if it's just some snot-nosed brat. As for your Gigai: well I think it's time we test this sucker out huh?"

With that, the muscular Soul Reaper sprang into action, swiftly covering the ground between him and the small boy in a single bound. It seemed that the red-eyed demon was prepared for the man's attack though; the boy's frail arms managing to swing the mammoth sized Zanpakutō of his with surprising velocity at the charging Kensei. The momentum behind the strike though wasn't enough to overwhelm the experienced veteran though, and Kensei was able to deflect the blow with a one-handed parry. Using his other hand for his counter-attack, the white haired swordsman delivered a powerful open-palmed strike to the adolescent's solar plexus. The force from the blow sent the Hollow reeling backwards before colliding into a large boulder, resulting in him being buried beneath a mound of debris.

"Not too much fight in him I suppose," declared Kensei, a little disappointed. He had been hoping for a better showing from the kid then that. "Shouldn't have expected all that much though, he was just a punk with no experience after all."

Just as he turned away though, the man's sharpened hearing picked up the sound of shifting rock. With a quick glance behind his shoulder, Kensei watched as the fanged Hollow pushed itself out of the rubble, looking only slightly worse for wear from the experience. It felt as if the crimson, red eyes of the beast were attempting to bore holes into him from the death glare he was receiving.

"Who said that we were finished yet?" questioned the masked boy. "I'm just getting started!"

Kensei simply returned the challenging stare for a moment before a small grin formed across his face.

"Sounds good to me punk; let's see what you're really made of!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Rukia's body immediately tensed as the cold, callous voice that had suddenly spoken from the darkness seemed to put a spell of terror on her that threatened to consume her entire being. A wave of tremors racked her entire body as it seemed as if the simple vibrations of this being's voice caused her skin to crawl. Clenching her hands tightly around the metallic handle of her newly acquired sword, the raven haired girl slowly turned her head to look behind her.

The only thing that the girl's eyes were able to capture was a blur of movement as someone-or something- moved rapidly away from her sight. Eyes widening in shock, Rukia suddenly felt as if something inside of her was urging her to move away, quickly. Trusting this primal instinct, the petite girl leapt to the side just in time to avoid being crushed by a massive, green claw. The young lass wasn't able to fully comprehend what had happened though, as gravity took control of her body and sent her crashing into the sand below.

A loud oomph sound could be heard as Rukia collided hard with the desert floor, causing her to lose her breath in the process. Gasping for air, the girl remained perfectly still for a moment as she tried to regain her composure. All she wanted to do was simply sit there and rest. Hunger seemed to be clawing at the insides of her stomach, which she found to be extremely strange. She wasn't supposed to get hungry right?

'_Get up and move!' _

Spurned into action by this sudden order, the dark-haired girl quickly sprung to her feet and began to sprint from her current position. As with before, this sudden interruption by her instincts had once again saved her from a gruesome death, which a quick glance over her shoulders confirmed. Where she had moments before been laying, a giant pit of sand resided thanks to a powerful blow from whoever her mysterious attacker was.

"You are a slippery one, aren't you girl?"

Rukia froze in her tracks as she realized that the voice had once again returned, though this time it was coming from in front of her. Halting dead in her tracks, the girl skidded to a stop before lifting her head to get her first look at her assailant. Horror stricken, Rukia's mouth involuntarily hung agape as she was unable to contain her terror upon laying eyes on the…monster before her.

With leathery green skin, only interrupted by segments of exposed bones, this creature was no doubt the most horrendous thing Rukia had ever laid eyes upon. Simply looking upon the monster's hideous form was enough for the girl's body to be paralyzed with fear. The face of this gigantic creature was covered by a skeleton-like mask, with large, seemingly bottomless holes were a living being's eyes should have been and a giant hole that was placed where the beast's heart should have been.

The raven-haired child's entire body shook violently as an evil grin spread across the monster's skinless cheeks. So this…was a Hollow? In the Soul Society, the citizens there lived in constant fear of these heartless beast, who were the consumers of souls. It was rumored that the worst possible way to die was to be devoured by a Hollow, since not only did you die a horrible and painful death, but you were absorbed into the very thing that had robbed you of your own life. Destined to become the some mindless creature that had killed you was a fate worse than death, at least in the eyes of the residents of the Soul Society.

This was the cold, hard fate that stared down Rukia as she sat sprawled on the sand of this foreign place. Soul Reapers were the only ones that were able to stand against the might of Hollows, and even they sometimes were unable to defeat the monsters. What chance did one small girl from Hanging Dog have against one of these terrible fiends?

"Now, no more running away," commanded the Hollow, a colossal tongue darting out from its' barred fangs. "I love playing with my food as much as anyone, but this has become boring."

As one of the colossal paws of the monster began to descend upon the petite girl, Rukia's survival instincts kicked in. Having honed her reflexes in the tough streets of one of the worst districts in the Rukon, the child had been more than a few life-or-death situations already and while she had never faced anything so terrifying, she wasn't just going to give up now. Not when she still needed to meet back up with Renji.

Wrapping her hand around the brown hilt of the Zanpakutō that lay by her side, Rukia wildly swung above her in an attempt to ward off the Hollow's encroaching hand. The green appendage swiftly recoiled to evade the swipe, but faster than the girl could see, the beast's arm had descended again and batted against her side.

The raven-haired adolescent was sent flying through the air before colliding with a nearby sand dune. Dropping her sword upon impact, Rukia cried out in pain as she felt a rib or two snap thanks to the collision. Sliding down the face of the wall of sand, the girl's lip trembled as it dawned on her that there was simply nothing she could do to fight against this monstrosity. There was simply too great of a difference in their strength.

"Enough of your pointless struggling," snarled the Hollow, again approaching the battered and mentally broken child. "Don't you get that I'm hungry!"

Waves of fear racked Rukia's entire body as the rumbling steps of the monster inched closer and closer to her. She was unable to even look up to watch as the beast encroached upon her, squeezing her eyes tight while the demon moved in to make the killing blow. The blow that she had received from the Hollow was nothing compared to the mental slap that she had just received. She was going to die. In this alien world, without any of her friends…without Renji. They were supposed to escape the horrible life that they had in Hanging Dog. They were supposed to become Soul Reapers together and grow stronger together in order to always be able to protect those that couldn't protect themselves. That was the goal that she and Renji had set out from themselves, and now all of that was being shattered in a cold, distant desert.

No one would know about her death either. Rukia suspected that the gang would simply think that she was lost somewhere, and would search for her day and night, constantly worried about her safety. The thought of causing the crimson haired boy and the rest of their family to worry endlessly about her whereabouts caused a deep pain in her heart. Rukia always hated when the boys worried about her, but it seemed that she was going to cause them a lifetime of anxiety. Renji in particular, would more than likely never stop searching for her, the stubborn fool.

'_You don't want to let that happen do you, partner?'_

Rukia's eyes snapped open, as the same voice from earlier once again entered into her mind. It was an eerily familiar tone, like the girl has known it forever, and yet it was also so alien that she could not place where she had heard it before. Not to mention, why was she hearing voices in her head anyways? Was she hallucinating since death was only moments away?

'_You don't want to die just yet, Rukia. Not when we still have so much to accomplish together. Let me help you, allow me to save us and punish this mindless brute for daring to try and harm you.'_

"I don't want to die…" mumbled Rukia, tears stinging at the edges of her eyes. "I just want to go back home, to my family."

'_Then let me take care of this, Rukia. You're no good to anyone, especially me, if you die here. Let me take control, I'll handle this for you. You want to live don't you?'_

"What are you muttering about over there?" questioned the Hollow, before letting out a low, rumbling laugh. "Ha-ha-ha-ha, she must have cracked!"

Many thoughts raced through Rukia's mind as she stared up into the face of death, which was laughing down at her. Could she really trust this voice in her head? It claimed to be able to give her the power to survive against the Hollow, but was it possible that this invisible savior actually had that kind of strength? It could all simply be a hallucination of a desperate girl, and yet it sounded so…real. Besides, if there was even a small sliver of hope that this would allow to her actually live through this, if there was any chance that this would lead to her meeting up again with Renji and the rest of her family, shouldn't she grasp onto that sliver?

"I WANT TO LIVE!" screamed Rukia, lifting her head to the sky and bellowing her desire into the heavens.

As the echo of the girl's cry rang out over the empty desert, the Hollow stood speechless as Rukia's head once again descended to her chest. Finally, after a few moments of eerie silence, the monster opened its' own mouth and began to laugh.

"That's rich girl! You want to live huh?" mocked the creature. "Don't we all! That's why the weak like yourself have to die, so that the strong can survive! If you're not strong, than there's reason for you to live except! If you really wanted to live, you should have been stronger, now DIE!"

Pulling back the arm that's hand was in the shape of a gigantic crab-like claw, the Hollow quickly thrust his appendage forward in an attempt to impale the small girl before him. However, his red irises widened in surprise when his strike lost all of its velocity and his claw was sent flying; having been completely severed from the rest of his arm. Before the creature's brain could even register what was going on, several more large gashes appeared in both of his shoulders-blood spewing forth like a fountain-and the creature was lifted off his feet by a powerful blow that sent the Hollow flying backwards.

A roar of agony filled the sandy landscape as the Hollow howled in pain, reeling backwards from the numerous wounds that he had just received. Black, sticky, liquid poured from the monster's wounds and even this fearsome beast experienced shock at the sight of its own blood. How had this happened to him? Who did this?

"Maybe you should follow your own advice," taunted a shrill, condescending voice from behind the Hollow. Turning its' head to look, the creature was stunned to see the small child that only moments ago had been so paralyzed with fear that she couldn't even speak. There was something undoubtedly…different about her now. It seemed that he had been mistaken originally, believing that this girl was a Soul, because now it was clear that she was a Hollow, the mask across her face now being a dead give-away.

The pure white substance that covered the raven-haired girl's face had no blemishes like many Hollow mask. There were no markings or cracks in its smooth surface, only two large eye holes that simply were pitch black, with no color to be found anywhere in their murky depths. A row of barred fangs lined the bottom of the diamond-shaped mask, and while the teeth didn't move, the Hollow couldn't help but feel as if this girl was smirking at him.

"As you said, the weak don't deserve to live," commented the masked child. "I would say that you've long overstayed your welcome here in the world where only the strong can survive."

"WHY YOU LITTLE…" bellowed the Hollow as it lounged forward, its own fangs barred in anger at the child before him. The colossal beast didn't make it far though, for before it could even finish its' sentence, the sound of a sword slicing through the air silenced the Hollow for good. One last thought of surprise entered through the demon's mind before its' entire body was spilt in two thanks to a quick strike from the raven-haired girl.

Gracefully landing on her feet several yards away from the collapsed form of the slain monster, the masked Rukia took a moment to savor her flawless victory. A purr escaped from the girl's throat as she looked at her blade, which was dripping with the black blood of her foe. With this sort of power, there was nothing that could hope to stop her.

"This is going to be fun," said the child with a smirk. At that moment though, a powerful spiritual pressure entered into the girl's mind. The sheer amount of Reiatsu that had suddenly entered into the vicinity was unimaginable, and she found that it had suddenly become difficult to breathe because of this overwhelming power.

"That was fairly impressive, especially one as young as you." Turning her head, the blue irises of Rukia's eyes began to emerge in the blackness of the mask that was now beginning to slowly dissipate away. A mixture of a sudden overpowering sense of fatigue and the massive amount of spiritual pressure that was being exerted caused the small girl to begin to rapidly lose consciousness. Knees buckling from a sudden muscle failure throughout her body, Rukia slowly fell and landed roughly onto the sand bed beneath her.

Eyes fluttering, Rukia was surprised when the form of a tall woman, with blonde hair suddenly entered into her blurry vision. Raising her hand, the girl attempted to reach out for help from this unknown lady, but it was not to be as the darkness completely overtook the child and Rukia fell into unconsciousness.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Renji's eyes snapped open, but he was quickly forced to shield them from the blinding light that seemed to be bearing down directly into his face. After taking a few moments to adjust to the light, the crimson haired boy began to survey his surroundings, and once again he had woken up in a foreign place. This time around, the hot-headed adolescent found himself standing amongst an endless sea of grass in a hot, humid, savanna. This grass, for the most part, did not look entirely healthy though, as it appeared to have been burnt by the endless rays of the harsh sun that bore down it, giving the plants a distinctly brownish-yellow color.

Looking around in all directions, Renji could see nothing but this sun-scorched land for miles upon miles. Nothing else seemed to grow in this area, not even a single bush dotted the horizon-much less anything big enough to pass off as a tree. Beads of sweat began to roll down the boy's face and neck, causing a growl of discomfort to slip from his lips.

"Damn, if they were going to leave my someplace else now they could at least drop me off somewhere cooler," complained Renji aloud, lifting up his arm to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Well, no use just standing around."

With a reluctant sigh, the delinquent began to walk forward. It wasn't as if he knew where he was actually going, or in what direction he was heading. In his mind, Renji just figured that doing _something_ was much better than just standing around and doing nothing. Besides, if he was lucky, maybe he would stumble into a cave or something were he could escape this blasted heat.

It seemed that luck happened to be smiling on him today, since as soon as the thought passed through his mind, the outline of a giant tree appeared over the horizon. A small smile passed over Renji's face as the thought of shade passed through his mind and he began to sprint towards the gigantic plant.

The boy had to admit, he had never seen a tree quiet like this one before. For one thing, it was much bigger than any he had seen before, its trunk seemingly taking up a large part of the horizon before him. Also, the tree's limbs seemed to grow in a very unnatural way, almost appearing more like the roots than the branches of a tree. The boy's curiosity about the bizarre looking tree came to a screeching halt though as he finally arrived underneath of the tree's shade and he breathed a sigh of content. It was good to be out of that damned heat.

"So, you finally got here, _Renji_."

The crimson-haired boy's eyes widened in horror as a familiar slithery voice came from behind him. It was the same hissing voice that had entered into his head right before he had lost consciousness. The same one that had voiced his own fears, that he was too weak to protect Rukia…

Whipping his head around, ready to face his accuser, Renji was surprised to find that there was nothing behind him. Puzzled, the boy straightened his back and raised his hand to scratch the back of his head. Where could that voice have come from?

"Up here, you fool," announced the voice with a heavy undertone of amusement buried in its tone. Casting his gaze upward with a scowl formed on his face-Renji hated being talked down to-the scarlet haired adolescent's eyes widened in a mixture of shock and horror as he lay eyes upon the person behind the voice.

Sitting casually on one of the tree's thick branches was…Renji himself! Or at the very least someone that looked exactly the same as the boy did. Everything was identical except for one fact: that every part of this doppelganger was a bleached white color. His clothing, his hair, even his skin was an unnaturally pale color which Renji had only seen once before, and that was the color of a Hollow mask! The only thing about this copy-cat that wasn't white was his eyes, were his irises were a blood red color and the reminder of his eyes was a pitch black color.

"Surprise!" exclaimed the bleached doppelganger with a maniac grin plastered across his face. "Hahahaha, you should see the look on your face! It's like you've seen a ghost or something."

"Who...what…huh?" stammered Renji, his mouth hanging agape as he stumbled into the truck of the giant tree. "What are you?"

"I'm you of course!" proclaimed the erratic being as he leapt from his perch so that he was now directly in front of the aghast boy. "Well, I'm the superior to you in every way you, but I'm still unfortunately a part of your consciousness. Though at the moment, it would seem that I'm in control while you're stuck in here."

The albino Renji let out a cackling howl of laughter as the original slumped to the ground with his back propped against the base of the giant tree. What was going on here? Who exactly was this pale clone of his and what was he talking about? Was this all just some hallucination that he was having while unconscious?

"No, this is all VERY real," asserted the pale boy, seemingly reading the other's mind. "While you are unconscious, this is a real place. You SHOULD know it very well, seeing as how it's your inner world, but it's not surprising that an idiot like you wouldn't. No wonder you weren't able to protect Rukia."

"SHUT UP!" roared Renji, leaping to his feet and quickly grabbing hold of his albino twin's collar. All that the crimson haired boy's reaction caused in the being was a smug smirk and a quick flick of his forked tongue before he addressed the angry child again.

"Quite the temper you have there," he stated bemused. "It's true though, you're simply not strong enough to protect even yourself, let alone Rukia. Did you think that getting a Zanpakutō and a meager amount of Reiatsu would change that? Fool! You can't even hear or see your Zanpakutō even though it's right in front of you! Do you believe that you are worthy of that kind of power?"

"What are you talking about?" interrogated Renji, giving the pale bastard a shake for good measure. "Zanpakutō spirit?"

The doppelganger laughed once again before lifting one of his hands and pointing behind Renji. "Look, there it is right now! But no matter how hard you look, you'll never see it because you're too weak!"

Scowling, the crimson haired boy turned around and followed the path directed by his clone's finger. After a few seconds, Renji found that he was once again staring at the branch that the other Renji had been resting upon when he had first arrived. What had that bastard been pointing at? There was nothing there! Turning back around ready to take off the pale kid's head for messing with him, the form of something quickly moving through the trees appeared in the corner of the boy's eye. It was only a faint outline, but it appeared as if something akin to a large monkey was sitting on the branch that he had just been staring at. Quickly jerking his head back around, Renji was left in disappoint when he once again found that there was nothing there.

"Ah, so you managed to catch a glimpse of him aye?" remarked the bleached boy before grinning deviously again. "No matter, you're still a weakling not even deserving of ruling over your own body! That's why I'm in control! I'll be the King around here, and your body will be mine to use with as I please!"

"Well just shut up!" bellowed Renji, throwing a punch as the smug prick trying to enforce his order. To his surprise though, the white haired clone easily evaded the punch before delivering one of his own to his counterpart's jaw. The crimson haired boy was sent flying backwards until he was slammed into the base of the tree, causing the whole trunk to vibrate from the collision. Renji saw stars as he attempted to stand back up, he didn't think he had ever been hit that hard before in his life.

"Hahaha, as I said, you're too weak, Renji," mocked the doppelganger with a smirk. "Why don't you just accept that fact and let me take over. I'll never let your body be that weak ever again!"

"I…keep telling you…" said Renji weakly as he staggered onto his feet. "To SHUT UP! I'm not sure exactly want you're talking about with all this 'take over my body' business, but I don't care. I would never let myself be controlled by anyone, especially not a creep like you!"

The cocky smile that had been spread across the pale Renji's face quickly turned into a frown upon hearing his fiery twin's words.

"That's unfortunate to hear, for you that is," commented the albino clone. "It seems that you'll be a little more difficult than I originally figured, but in the end, it won't really matter. You can't stand up to my power no matter how determined you are. Now let's…ARGH!"

Renji arched his eyebrows in surprise as his doppelganger suddenly clutched at his chest while bending over. The all-white boy's breath suddenly became haggard and his body was visibly trembling as if he had just received a grievous wound. After a few moments of the pale being trying to compose itself, Renji watched as his twin turned his head towards him and snarled.

"It seems that you've been saved this time, Renji. Rest assured though, I will be the King." As the doppelganger finished speaking, his entire body began to dissipate into a black cloud. Just as Renji tried to figure out exactly what was going on, he felt as if he was suddenly beginning drug away himself. In an instant, the entire scene before him faded into black, with the savanna and giant tree simply vanishing from sight.

As if a bucket of water had been poured onto his head, Renji felt himself jolt awake. His eyes snapped open and he immediately knew that he was back in reality because of the familiar brown dirt that his face was shoved into. It was the same that lay on the floor of the cave that he had woken up inside of last time. Why was face-first in the dirt though?

The crimson haired adolescent's question was answered almost immediately when the glint from a slender blade shown in his eye. Blinking several times, Renji almost screamed in terror when it dawned on him that someone's sword was only a mere centimeter from his throat. Attempting to get up off the ground and away from the lethal weapon, the boy tried to push himself up but found himself roughly slammed back into the ground by a strong force.

"What the hell is going on!?" demanded the confused child.

"Oh, Renji, it seems that you've come back to your senses." Casting his eyes upward, Renji could see that it was the eccentric scientist, Urahara, who was speaking to him. His back was turned to the pinned down child, and his Zanpakutō was drawn, but Renji had no idea why. "You couldn't have picked a better time?"

"What do you mean? Would someone let me up?" the crimson boy asked, a tad bit annoyed with how he was being manhandled at the moment. For God's sake, he had just been unconscious!

"Shut up, kid." Growling, Renji was forced to turn his head awkwardly so that he could see the gruff voice that had spoken from behind him. His efforts were rewarded to see a muscular man with short, white-silver, hair pinning him to the ground with one of his knees. This man however wasn't really paying much attention to the boy though, as his head was uplifted so that his eyes didn't even see the red-haired child. "Can't you see that we're sort of in a situation here?"

Renji was about to snap back at the man, but his words died in his throat when a booming voice suddenly rung out throughout the entire cavern.

"Criminals! Based on the charges of desertion, illegal experimentation, Hollowfication, and treason; you are here by placed under arrest by the authority of Central 46 and the Thirteen Court Guard Squads!"

**Hey there guys! Nice to be back writing about the Bleach universe! Sorry about the long delay in-between updates, but I've been having a pretty busy last couple of months. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed this newest chapter and it looks like by Renji and Rukia are in quite a bind huh? It's almost like someone ended the chapter in these exact places to get people to come back for more…(begins whistling innocently). See you guys next time! **


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